Sea Bass & Sea Buckthorn Berry Taco

The base batter

• Cut the onions in half and clean them. Then slice them in thin slices.
• Now drizzle some oil in a frying pan and start glazing the onion on a low heat. Also add the salt, this helps the softening process. You want to reduce the onions as much as possible without colouring them.
• Meanwhile spread the seabass skin from the one seabass on a silicon sheet or a piece of parchment paper and drizzle some olive oil on top. Bake the skin at 160 °C (320 °F) till golden brown and completely dried out.
• Once it has cooled down transfer 30 grams of the toasted fish skin into a blender and add the flour. Blend it into a fine powder. Set it aside for later.
• Now back to the onion. Weigh 135 grams of the reduced onion in the blender and also add the neutral oil, the egg white, the cane sugar and the salt. Blend it till smooth. This can take a couple of minutes.
• When smooth add the fish flour powder and blend it once more.

The basic taco

• Transfer the batter on a silicon sheet and level it with a pallet knife. Bake it at 150 °C (302 °F) for about 15 minutes.
• After that directly but gently remove it from the sheet and cut it to the desired size. You can use any size or shape you like. Now transfer them back on a metal tray and bake them for another 5 minutes till golden brown.
• Then when still hot shape the dough discs with a round shaper or a metal pipe. Once they have cooled down you can keep them dry and covered for later.

The next level taco

• Transfer a bit of the batter in a bowl and colour it with some squid ink. Just a touch is fine.
• Now spread it on a silicon mold and be sure to really press it into all the little gabs and corners. Click here for the mold I used. Be sure it’s very tight before transferring it on a tray.
• Bake it at 150 °C (302 °F) for a minute. Let it cool down before spreading the remaining non coloured batter on top. Be sure it’s completely level and then bake it for about 15 minutes.
• After that directly but again gently remove the sheet from the mold and cut it to the desired size. This time I used a different cutter.
• Now transfer them back on the tray and bake them for another 5 minutes till golden brown. When still hot shape them with the shaper and then they are ready! For both versions the flavour is the same, but this one is just a bit more Jules Cooking. 

• Begin by cutting away the fins and chop the bones into even smaller pieces.
• Now remove the eyes and gills from the head and chop it into even smaller pieces as well. Then rinse everything under some running cold water till the water is clear.
• Once it's clear drain the water and let it drain for a couple of minutes.
• Transfer the rinsed bones on a metal tray and add the onion and the garlic. Bake the bones at 180 °C (356 °F) for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile cut the celery.
• Then transfer the bones into a pan and deglaze the tray with the white wine. Let the tray soak in the oven for a couple of minutes before pouring it into the pan as well.
• Also add the chopped celery, the coriander seeds, the black pepper, enough water to submerge the bones and the flat parsley. Let the broth simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes.
• After that pass it through a fine sieve and let it drip for at least 30 minutes, so you don’t waste a single drop.
• Then reduce it till you’re happy with the flavour. You want a very intense base.
• Once you’re happy with the result weigh the total weight and add a gram of agar for every 100 grams of base. I had 250 grams, so I added 2.5 grams of agar.
• Mix it well and bring it to a boil for at least 30 seconds. Then pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge.
• When it has set transfer it into a blender and blend it into a lovely gel.
• To bring it to the next level I always vacuum it. Do this in a vacuum chamber at a 100%, this will result in a clear and more intense gel.
• Now transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later. Just beware that because there’s a lot of gelatine from the fish bones, the texture will be different when cold. 

• If you’re not able to get buckthorn berries just make a normal tiger milk, find the recipe here.
• For this recipe mix the sea buckthorn berries with the mirin, the sesame oil and the salt. Now blend it not till smooth, but just for a minute. You don’t want to crush the pits, this will be bitter.
• Then pass it through a fine sieve and press it with a ladle to insure you don’t waste a single drop.
• Now add one sliced shallot with the sliced ginger and mix it well. Let it marinade overnight in your fridge.
• The next day you can pass it through a fine sieve once more and then keep it covered in your fridge for later. 

• Mix the egg yolk with the mustard, the lime juice, the salt, the sesame oil and the cold neutral oil. Blend it till fully emulsified.
• Then transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later. 

• For this we only use the green top part, this white bottoms you can use for another recipe. Cut the tops to the desired size and open them up.
• Then place them on top of each other and very thinly slice them. Directly place them in a generous amount of ice water. This will make them curl up.
• The longer you leave them in the ice water, the more curls will form. Keep them covered in your fridge. 

• Submerge the seabass belly in the sea buckthorn base and mix it well. Make sure it’s all submerged and let it marinade for 30 minutes in your fridge.
• You can also do this a little time beforehand, but then only let it marinade for 20 minutes and do this max 5 hours beforehand.
• Then drain the sea buckthorn base and now we can start to plate.
• Place a taco on a plate and pipe a dot of the gel in the middle. Now place a spoon of the ceviche on there and pipe 3 dots of the sesame mayonnaise on top.
• Then decorate it with some of the spring onion curls and little chickweed leaves.